MILAN — The American men made good on what hockey fans across North America have wanted since the 2026 Winter Olympics began: USA vs. Canada for the gold medal.

USA delivered on its end by routing Slovakia, 6-2, on Feb. 20, hours after Canada defeated Finland, 3-2 in the first semifinal of the day at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.

USA and Canada will meet Sunday, Feb. 22 (8 a.m. ET) to settle who gets gold and who gets silver. The match falls three days after the women’s hockey finale, in which the USA women defeated Canada to claim gold.

Now the men are down to the medal games.

While Canada didn’t score until past the midpoint of its game, USA got on the scoreboard at 4:19 when Dylan Larkin caught a pass from Zach Werenski, skated up the left flank and unleashed a shot from the left circle that flew by Samuel Hlavaj. The Slovaks — with seven NHLers on their roster to 25 for the Americans — worked hard to get an equalizer, registering eight shots on Connor Hellebyck, but USA took a 2-0 lead in the final minute when Tage Thompson converted during a power play, angling the puck from the bottom of the left circle short-side at 19:19.

Thompson did not finish the game after blocking a shot with his foot in the second period. With USA up by five goals after two periods, there was leeway to have him come off early.

Quinn Hughes, who scored the overtime goal that sent USA to the semis, assisted on Thompson’s to extend his point streak to five games.

The U.S. took command in the second period, running up a 10-2 edge in shots around the midpoint. Matt Boldy put the puck in the net, but officials immediately waived off it off because he kicked it in. There was nothing to dispute the next time the puck went in: Jack Hughes maneuvered the puck around multiple defenders to score his second goal of the tournament.

Nineteen seconds later, Jack Eichel followed suit, and the Slovaks pulled Hlavaj for Stanislav Skorvanek. Hughes scored again with 1:36 to play as USA continued its rout, putting Slovakia on a path to face Finland for Bronze.

Juraj Slafkovksy ruined Hellebyuck’s shutout bid five minutes into the third period. That was the 21-year-old forward’s fourth goal and eighth point in five Olympic games.

Brady Tkachuk added a goal midway through the third period, and Pavol Regenda countered for Slovakia at 13:17.

Several USA players had multi-point games including Brady and Matthew Tkachuk, Zach Werenski, Eichel Hughes and Thompson.

Matthew Tkachuk (Florida Panthers) and Erik Cernak (Tampa Bay Lightning) got into it in the final minutes, shoving and jabbing, earning misconducts from officials to get them out of the game.

Scottie Scheffler entered the 2026 Genesis Invitational with the longest active streak of cuts made on the PGA Tour. He hadn’t missed the weekend at an event since August 2022. He cut it close on Friday at Riviera Country Club, though.

Scheffler ended Feb. 20 with a second-round 68, moving to even par for the tournament and sitting tied for 41st when he finished his round. With the projected cut at even par, putting the tournament’s top 50 golfers and ties into the weekend round, Scheffler was left to sweat out the rest of the round in the clubhouse.

But while the sun began sinking over the Pacific and the last golfers finished their round, it was clear the streak was safe. Sheffler’s even-par score was enough to place him in the top 50 and stave off elimination.

Scheffler’s tournament got off to a rough start during Thursday’s first round, which was suspended by weather. Scheffler was +5 through the opening 10 holes, though he recovered upon returning to the course Friday morning to finish with a 74. He was 3-under par during Friday’s second round.

The world’s No. 1 golfer has made a habit of playing from behind to start the 2026 season. He also flirted with the cut line after a poor first round at the WM Phoenix Open earlier this month.

What is cut line at the 2026 Genesis Invitational?

The cut line at the 2026 Genesis Invitational consists of the top 50 golfers in the field (and ties). It is expected to end at even par. Scheffler was tied for 41st when his round ended with more than 40 golfers still on the course. With the round almost over at 5 p.m. PT, the worst Sheffler can finish is in a tie for 45th, as only Ryan Gerard and Kevin Yu have the opportunity to secure an under-par score through two rounds.

How many consecutive cuts has Scottie Sheffler made?

Scheffler has now made 68 consecutive cuts, according to PGA statistics. The second-longest active streak heading into the weekend was Harris English’s 21 straight cuts made. English shot a second-round 68 to enter the weekend at -1 and keep that streak alive.

Tiger Woods owns the PGA record for consecutive cuts made, clearing 142 from 1998 to 2005.

Who missed the cut at Genesis Invitational?

While Feb. 20 results are not yet final, a number of notable golfers, including Lucas Glover, Justin Rose, Jason Day and Keegan Bradley, all sit well above the cut line.

This story will be updated when results become final.

• Colorado football coach Deion Sanders held an NFL-style draft to create two teams for spring practice and other activities.
• Freshman quarterback Kaneal Sweetwyne was the surprising first overall pick over presumed starter Julian Lewis.
• Besides increasing the competition on this team, pitting the two teams against each other also is expected to build camaraderie on a squad with so many new faces.

In an effort to increase competition and camaraderie on his team this spring, Colorado football coach Deion Sanders is trying something new:

On Friday, Feb. 20, he debuted an NFL-style draft to create two separate intrasquad teams that will compete against each other in practice and other activities.

“I love this,” Sanders said after the draft, as documented on the YouTube channel of his son Deion Jr. “I love every last bit of it. And I can’t wait to see us compete.”

A select group of captains was put in charge of picking the black team and the gold team, with a limit of 45 seconds allowed between draft picks. The ESPN NFL draft chime was blasted over the speaker system when it was time to make the first player selection.

Then came the surprising first overall draft pick, announced by black team captain Brady Kopetz.

“First person picked in the 2026 spring ball draft: Kaneal Sweetwyne,’ Kopetz announced.

Who was the first player taken in Deion Sanders’ spring draft?

Sweetwyne, a dual-threat freshman quarterback, is straight out of high school in Lehi, Utah, and is expected to open the spring practice season behind presumed starting quarterback Julian “JuJu” Lewis.

The pick wasn’t explained by the captains of the team on the video. But the other team picked Lewis No. 2 and made it an issue. Lewis, a redshirt freshman, started two games in 2025, when the Buffaloes finished 3-9.

“So y’all took Kaneal Sweetwyne at No. 1,” gold captain and safety Ben Finneseth said to the opposing team. “And the thing I know about Julian Lewis is he’s got that fire in him, right? And this is gonna (expletive) him off… Julian Lewis, he gonna bring that fire.”

Players were selected by position, with quarterbacks going first. San Jose State transfer receiver Danny Scudero was the first wide receiver selected after leading the nation last season with 108.1 receiving yards per game.

‘Winning is the bottom line’

Besides increasing the competition on this team, pitting the two teams against each other also is expected to build camaraderie on a squad with so many new faces. At least 47 new transfers are coming into Boulder for the 2026 season, offsetting at least 35 players from last year’s team that transferred out.

“Some days I’m going to have all-competition days, and you’re gonna go out there in the color of your team,” Deion Sanders said. “That’s how we’re gonna get down.”

Sanders also said he’d be keeping a score of the competitions and encouraged the captains to take ownership of their draft picks.

“We keeping count of everything,” Sanders said in a video from Darius Sanders, who is no relation to Deion Sanders but is one of Sanders’ favored videographers. “So a lot of the guys you pick, ain’t got nothing to do with us (coaches). That’s on y’all. Y’all picked ‘em and y’all are teammates. And you don’t blame the coach. Don’t blame nothing else but yourselves.

‘You all picked this team. So y’all gotta take ownership of it. Y’all gotta encourage them. You gotta motivate them. You gotta get on them. … And you guys gotta win. Winning is the bottom line, so you gotta kick their butt, and they gotta kick your butt. You got that?”

“Yes sir,” the team replied.

Spring practice for Colorado begins March 2. The season opener at Georgia Tech recently was moved to Thursday, Sept. 3 for a national telecast on ESPN.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

The highly anticipated USA-Canada gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics is happening.

The U.S. men’s hockey team routed Slovakia 6-2 in Friday’s semifinal for its first trip to the Olympic championship game since 2010.

The USA-Canada game will be Sunday, Feb. 22 at 8:10 a.m. ET. Slovakia and Finland will play for bronze on Saturday at 2:40 p.m. ET.

Dylan Larkin scored the opening goal for the second game in a row and Tage Thompson made it 2-0 on the power play.

The Americans poured it on in the second period, getting two goals by Jack Hughes and one by Jack Eichel.

The only concern for the USA  is that Thompson didn’t play in the third period after getting cross-checked. He was held out for precautionary reasons.

Canada had won 3-2 in the earlier semifinal, rallying from a 2-0 deficit to beat Finland. The Canadians played without injured captain Sidney Crosby.

‘It’s best on best. It’s what every American and Canadian grows up watching and grows up hearing about,’ USA forward Matthew Tkachuk said of the upcoming game against Canada. ‘This is the pinnacle of the sport. This is as good as it gets and a rivalry that’s as good as it gets. So there will be not one TV without the game on in the United States and Canada. And that should get you pretty fired up.’

Canada had beaten the USA in last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off final and won their meetings in the 2002 and 2010 gold medal games.

USA TODAY is in Milan and provided live updates for the USA vs. Slovakia men’s hockey semifinal. Here are highlights:

Tage Thompson injury update

Team USA head coach Mike Sullivan gave a postgame update on Tage Thompson’s early exit.

‘We held him out for precautionary reasons more than anything,’ he said. ‘We held him out for a lower body injury. So we’ll see how he recovers, but I would anticipate him being ready for game time.’

Final score: USA 6, Slovakia 2

Jack Hughes scores twice as the USA wins the men’s hockey semifinal. The Americans will play Canada for gold and Slovakia will play Finland for bronze.

USA vs. Slovakia scuffle

The Tkachuk brothers and Erik Cernak have been going at each other all game. Cernak and Brady and Matthew Tkachuk get unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Brady is also called for roughing.

USA vs Slovakia score

6-2 USA with five minutes left.

Slovakia vs USA score: Pavol Regenda scores

Slovakia cuts the deficit to four goals. It’s the first time that Connor Hellebuyck has given more than one goal. USA 6, Slovakia 2

USA vs. Slovakia score: Brady Tkachuk scores on breakaway

He was stopped on his first breakaway when shooting. He stickhandles this time and scores. USA 6, Slovakia 1

Brady Tkachuk stopped on breakaway

He’s in all alone but Stanislav Skorvanek stops him.

Slovakia vs USA score: Juraj Slafkovsky gets Slovakia on board

Connor Hellebuyck was caught out of position going behind the net and couldn’t get set in time. Slafkovsky, the 2022 Olympics MVP, scores his fourth goal of the tournament. USA 5, Slovakia 1

Tage Thompson injury update

He’s not on the power play and NBC notes that he’s not on the bench either. NBC says he is being held out of the third period for precautionary reasons. He had been cross-checked earlier in the game.

Third period is underway

USA leads 5-0 and is still on a power play. The rest of the penalty is killed.

When is the men’s hockey gold medal game?

If the USA can hold on for the final 20 games, it would advance to the gold medal against Canada. The game will be played on Sunday, starting at 8:10 a.m. ET. The bronze medal game is Saturday at 2:40 p.m. ET.

USA women’s hockey team cheers on USA men

Jack and Quinn Hughes attended Thursday’s gold-medal game between the U.S. women and Canada, where the Americans reigned victorious and clinched their first gold medal since 2018.

The U.S. women’s hockey team returned the favor on Friday.

One day after capturing gold in an overtime thriller, members of the U.S. women’s team returned to Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena to cheer on the U.S. men during their semifinal matchup against Slovakia.

Hannah Bilka wished the men ‘good luck” ahead of Friday’s semifinal. “I think they are such an incredible team and they have the winners in that locker room. I know that they can (win gold),” she told USA TODAY Sports.

The Hughes brother were on hand to support their mother, Ellen Weinberg-Hughes, who serves as the performance consultant for the U.S. women’s hockey team. The siblings also met Tom Brady and caught up with Olympic champion Mike Eruzione at Thursday’s gold-medal game.

USA men’s hockey leads Slovakia 5-0 after two periods

USA took over in the second period, running up an 10-2 edge in shots by halfway through. Matt Boldy kicked in the puck, so no goal there, but Jack Hughes showed off his skill set with a slick move to score at 12:14, and Jack Eichel followed up 19 seconds later. Hughes scored again at 18:24 to give the US a 5-0 lead.

USA goes back on power play

Patrik Koch is called for interference. The power play will extend into the third period.

USA vs. Slovakia score: Jack Hughes gets second goal

Jack Hughes scores right after the power play expires for his second goal of the game. USA 5, Slovakia 0

USA goes on power play

Oliver Okuliar is called for cross-checking. Slovakia kills it but the USA scores right after.

Slovakia makes goalie change

Samuel Hlavaj is out and Stanislav Skorvanek is in. Hlavaj is not happy about being pulled.

USA vs. Slovakia score: Jack Eichel gets goal

That’s two goals in 19 games for the USA. The Tkachuks do the work behind the net to set up Jack Eichel. USA 4, Slovakia 0

USA vs. Slovakia score: Jack Hughes gets goal

Jack Hughes has been making great passes all tournament. This time, he makes a great move around a defender to put himself in position for a wrist shot that beats Samuel Hlavaj. USA 3, Slovakia 0

USA goal waved off

On-ice officials rule that Jake Guentzel kicked in the puck. Still 2-0 USA.

USA goes on power play

Martin Fehervary is making his second trip to the penalty box for the second time, this time for holding. Auston Matthews has some great chances and the USA gets five shots, but no goals.

Slovakia goes on power play

Charlie McAvoy is called for high sticking, his second penalty of the day. No shots and USA kills it off.

USA goes on power play

Martin Fehervary is called for rough Brady Tkachuk. The USA scored on its first power play. But it won’t be this time because Auston Matthews is called for hooking. We’ll have 4-on-4 hockey. And the penalty to Matthews is also killed.

Second period underway

USA leads 2-0.

End of first period: USA 2, Slovakia 0

Dylan Larkin put USA on the board 4:19 into the game, scoring his second goal in two games. Slovakia played hard, but the USA took a 2-0 lead with 40.9 seconds on the clock, with Tage Thompson scoring on a power play. The USA has looked fast and strong, and has an 11-8 edge in shots.

USA vs Slovakia score: Tage Thompson scores on power play

Jack Eichel sets up Tage Thompson for a one-timer and his shot goes in short side. Quinn Hughes gets the second assist. USA 2, Slovakia 0

USA goes on power play

Milos Kelemen is called for tripping.

Chance for USA men’s hockey

Jack Hughes has been making great passes all tournament. He does it again to set up Tage Thompson, but Samuel Hlavaj stops him.

Slovakia goes on power play

Zach Werenski puts the puck over the glass and is called for delay of game. USA kills this one, too, and is 12-for-12 at the Olympics.

Slovakia goes on power play

Charlie McAvoy is called for goalie interference. The USA is perfect so far on the penalty kill and they continue. Dylan Larkin gets the best chance on a short-handed 2-on-1.

Johnny Gaudreau’s family in attendance

The family of the late Johnny Gaudreau is in Milan for the game. Team USA has his jersey in the locker room, just as they did in the 4 Nations Face-Off. Zach Werenski, who played with Gaudreau on the Blue Jackets, set up the opening goal. Gaudreau and brother Matthew died in 2024 when they were bicycling in New Jersey and were hit by a driver.

USA vs. Slovakia score: Dylan Larkin scores for the USA

Dylan Larkin gets the USA’s opening goal for the second game in a row. Beautiful up-ice pass by Zach Werenski to Larkin, who splits the defense and beats Samuel Hlavaj. USA 1, Slovakia 0

Game underway

Connor Hellebuyck and Samuel Hlavaj in net. Jack Eichel line starts for USA. Winners faces Canada for gold.

What time is USA vs. Slovakia men’s hockey semifinal today?

• Date: Friday, Feb. 20
• Time: 3:10 p.m. ET (9:10 p.m. local)
• Location: Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena (Milan)

Puck drop between the USA and Slovakia is set for 3:10 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20 from Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan.

Where to watch USA vs. Slovakia men’s hockey semifinal

• TV channel: NBC
• Streaming options: NBCOlympics.com | NBC Olympic App | Peacock

NBC will broadcast Friday’s USA vs. Slovakia men’s hockey semifinal at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Watch USA vs. Slovakia on Peacock

Is there a live stream of the Olympic men’s semifinal?

Streaming options for the game include NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Olympic App (with a cable TV or satellite login). You can also stream the game on Peacock, NBC’s subscription streaming service.

Goaltending matchup

Connor Hellebuyck vs. Samuel Hlavaj, who upset Finland in the preliminary round.

Team USA lines vs Slovakia

Canada vs. Finland score: Canada rallies to win

Canada, playing without injured captain Sidney Crosby, is heading to the gold medal game after rallying from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Finland 3-2. Nathan MacKinnon scored a last-minute goal that survived an offsides challenge. Canada will play the USA-Slovakia winner in Sunday’s gold medal game. Finland, the 2022 Olympic champion, will face the loser in Saturday’s bronze-medal game.

Recent USA vs. Slovakia Olympics history

Slovakia beat the USA in 2022 in a shootout. The USA beat Slovakia in 2018 in the preliminary round and the qualification game.

Connor Hellebuyck to start for USA

He has given four goals in four games at these Olympics and has a 0.98 goals against average and .958 save percentage.

USA vs. Slovakia predictions

Mike Brehm, USA TODAY – USA 3, Slovakia 2: Goalie Connor Hellebuyck has been one of the better goalies in the tournament. That alone should be enough to get the USA to the championship game. But the Americans also have been finding enough offense and have overcome any adversity that comes their way.

Jace Evans, USA TODAY – USA 5, Slovakia 2: The talent difference will again be on display in this one. While the USA got a scare in the quarterfinals, it came from a Sweden team that brought an equal number of NHL players to the Games. Slovakia has just seven NHL players in its lineup.

Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press – USA 4, Slovakia 2: The Americans faced their first real adversity in the quarterfinals, unable to score on Sweden the way the Americans had done in the round robin. They had to reset after losing a 1-0 lead with 91 seconds to play in regulation, and came out of it looking aces. Slovakia has had a great tournament, but the USA has superior depth. 

MILAN — The Canadians had their eyes on the gold medal game when the 2026 Winter Olympics began, and getting there took on extra meaning with their captain on the sidelines.

For a second consecutive game, they had to rally, doing so in thrilling fashion Friday, Feb. 20, overcoming a two-goal deficit to Finland in the men’s tournament to win 3-2, netting the winner with 36.2 seconds left in regulation at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. Sidney Crosby was unavailable because of an injury to his right leg suffered during the quaterfinal, and by winning, the Canadians bought him an extra day off before Sunday’s finale.

‘You want to win for Sid,’ Canadian defenseman Cale Makar said. ‘You don’t want that to be his last game here in Milan and for us. You definitely play for a guy like that and you play for all the Canadians out there that watch us every single day. We just want to make them proud. But for a guy like Sid, our captain, we go out there and try and do everything we can for him.’

Asked if Crosby might be available Sunday, Canada coach Jon Cooper said, ‘We have 48 hours to decide that but he’s got a better chance of playing in the gold medal game than he had of playing in tonight’s game.’

Canada is seeking its first Olympic gold since 2014, and will take on the USA, which beat Slovakia 6-2 in the other semifinal.

For the Finns, the final score tore at their hearts. They scored first, they scored second, they basically had three skaters playing back on the defense to keep Canada out. But sitting back so much after the first period — the Finns had four shots on net from the start of the second period until the middle of the third period, and were outshot 31-9 the last 40 minutes — was not a sound strategy against a team as talented as Canada.

‘We played the best team in the world,’ said Erik Haula, who scored a shorthanded goal early in the second period. ‘Took it to them. We kept talking about how we can just defend. They’re a good team. That’s the truth. We talked about it between the second and third. We’ve got to push for that next one.’

Instead, it was Canada doing what Canada does: Win. The Canadians pressed more and more, harder and harder, and Shea Theodore tied the game at 10:34 of the third period on a long-range slap shot off while Brad Marchand created havoc around Juuse Saros’ crease.

‘The way he tracks pucks and the way he moves, I don’t know if there’s a goalie in the league that does it better than he does,’ Canada coach Jon Cooper said. ‘So you’re down 2-0, and you’re thinking, ok, we’ve got to pierce Finland’s stout defense, but honestly the big worry for me is how are we going to get to Saros.’

Sam Bennett said rallying against Czechia in the quarterfinals helped.

‘You can’t just be a team that plays well with the lead, you have to be able to battle through adversity, tough moments,’ Bennett said. ‘We showed that. We played harder when we got down. We pushed the whole game, right to the very end. It just shows how bad this team wants it. It was great to see.’

Canada avoided going to overtime for a second consecutive game thanks to a fantastic shift from Nathan MacKinnon. He drew a high-sticking call on Niko Mikkola, then converted a one-timer from the left side set up by Connor McDavid to put Canada up within half a minute of winning. Desperate, Finnish coach Antti Pennanen challenged that Macklin Celebrini was offside, to no avail.

McDavid, wearing the ‘C’ in lieu of Crosby (in international hockey, there has to be a player serving as captain), had two assists, setting a record with 13 points in Olympics with NHL participation.

‘Just keeping the seat warm for Sid,’ McDavid said. ‘Hopefully we can see him here on Sunday. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for him to miss tonight. I’m sure it was a long game to watch. I know that for a fact. It means a lot to represent our country here as a team int he sport we love. That’s what it’s all about.’

Forward Tage Thompson scored another power play goal for the U.S. men’s hockey team but wasn’t able to finish Friday’s game because of a lower body injury.

Thompson, a Buffalo Sabres standout, sat out the third period of the USA’s 6-2 win against Slovakia, but the team said that was done as a precaution.

NBC replays showed that he was slashed and cross-checked earlier in the game.

‘We held him out for precautionary reasons more than anything,’ USA coach Mike Sullivan said after the game. ‘We held him out for a lower body injury. So, we’ll see how he recovers, but I would anticipate him being ready for game time.’

He’s the second player in the upcoming USA-Canada gold medal game who is dealing with an injury. Team Canada captain Sidney Crosby missed Friday’s semifinal against Finland with a lower body injury. His status for Sunday isn’t known at the moment.

Tage Thompson injury update

Sullivan believes that Thompson will be ready for the gold medal game. That game is Sunday at 2:10 p.m. in Milan (8:10 a.m. ET), so he has more than a day to recover.

Tage Thompson stats

Thompson wasn’t named for the 4 Nations Face-Off, though he was a potential injury replacement. He got the call this time because of his size, speed and stickhandling ability. He also scored the winning goal as the USA won gold at the 2025 world championships.

Thompson has three goals and an assist at the Olympics. He scored a power play goal on Friday with a one-timer from the left faceoff circle. He also had an assist on Dylan Larkin’s opening goal.

Is Travis Kelce going to retire this year?

That may be the biggest question of the offseason for the Kansas City Chiefs, outside of whether quarterback Patrick Mahomes will be ready for Week 1 of the 2026 season.

‘There is communication,’ Reid said, ‘and that’s the main thing. As long as there is communication, I’m good. That means people want to move forward.’

The Chiefs’ head coach started to say that he believed Kelce’s desire was to move forward but stopped himself, saying he didn’t want to put words in the tight end’s mouth.

‘We’re proceeding with that and there is communication going on,’ Reid concluded.

What Travis Kelce has said about retirement

After the Chiefs’ 2025 season ended – with Kansas City missing the playoffs for the first time 2014 – Kelce addressed his future on his ‘New Heights’ podcast.

‘Just being a regular human for a couple weeks, maybe a month or so, and try to figure out what I’m going to do next in terms of my future in football,’ Kelce said. ‘I’ve talked to a few people in the facility already, having the exit meetings and everything. They know where I stand, at least right now.

‘It’s a tough thing to navigate, but at the same time, if my body can rest up and heal up, and I can feel confident that I can go out there and give it another 18-, 20-, 21-week run, I think I would do it in a heartbeat,’ Kelce said. ‘I think right now, it’s just finding that answer and seeing how the body feels after this game and when it all settles down.’

Kelce turned 36 years old during the season – his 13th in the NFL – making him the second-oldest active player at his position behind 41-year-old Marcedes Lewis.

Travis Kelce’s contract status with Chiefs

Provided Kelce doesn’t sign any extension before the new league year begins on March 11, he’ll hit free agency for the first time. The two-year contract restructure he agreed to before the 2024 season is up when the 2025 league year ends. Kelce has said he will make his retirement decision before that happens.

If Kelce does hang up his cleats, he does so after a career that will go down as one of the league’s best at the tight end position. His 12 receiving yards in Week 18 pushed him over 13,000 receiving yards for his career – the third tight end to ever cross that mark – and his three catches vaulted him over Terrell Owens for the eighth-most receptions in NFL history with 1,080.

The tight end led the 2025 Chiefs in targets (108), receptions (76), receiving yards (851), receiving touchdowns (5) and receiving first downs (45). Kelce earned his 11th consecutive Pro Bowl nod in 2025.

The growth of women’s hockey since it was added as an Olympic sport in at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, has been exponential.

That popularity showed up in the ratings for the women’s gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Feb. 19. Team USA’s overtime victory against rival Canada was the most-watched women’s hockey game on record, according to NBC. It averaged 5.3 million viewers with an audience peak of 7.7 million viewers in overtime on USA and Peacock.

Team USA defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime, marking the Americans’ first Olympic gold medal since the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, which they won in a shootout. Team USA trailed much of the game, before Hilary Knight scored an equalizer with less than three minutes remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime.

“There was no way we were losing this game,’ Knight said. ‘That’s all. Simple as that. We had some awesome heavy hitters on the ice. I knew we were going to get possession, so I just had to find a place in front of the net.’

‘When Meg (Keller) pulled her move, I knew we had it immediately,’ Knight said.

Team USA has appeared in all but one gold medal game since 1998 — each time facing off against the Canadians. The Americans now have three golds.

‘The greatest rivalry in all sport for that reason, every game is tight,’ said Canadian defender Renata Fast, who assisted on Canada’s lone goal. ‘We knew that coming in every single battle, every single play is so important because the game is that close against this matchup. So this is the exact game we expected today, and obviously we just didn’t come out the way we wanted to.’

The next generation of the rivalry is in training. Women’s hockey has grown by leaps and bounds since 2000, as one of the fastest-growing youth sports in North America. USA Hockey reports that girls’ and women’s participation has surged 65% over the past 15 seasons.